Target

Attention fashion lovers: It just got easier to shop on Instagram. Both Nordstrom and Target are teaming up with Curalate, a visual marketing and analytics firm, to launch Like2Buy, a platform that seamlessly allows Instagram users to make purchases when they see an item they like on their feeds. The concept is dangerously easy: By clicking on the retailers’ profile pages, users can bring up a gallery of shoppable Instagram photos, and click through to go directly to the retailer's website. There, they can read product reviews and make a purchase through the retailer's secure page.

Target is keeping its doors open later at more than half of its U.S. stores, hoping to snag guests who are putting off shopping until well after dark and might have gone elsewhere. The chain's nearly 1,800 U.S. stores had typically opened at 8 a.m. and closed at 10 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and at 9 p.m. on Sundays. The new hours will keep stores open until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. on Sundays and until 11 p.m. or midnight on other days. The hours will vary by store; some, for example, will only have extended hours on weekends. 

The interconnectedness and rapid development of mobile technology are revolutionizing the consumer market. Retailers have fully computerized mechanisms driven by complex applications to bring their products to the mobile market, which has introduced serious security flaws into the ecosystem that can damage customers and financial giants, jeopardizing entire retail chains. Hackers have increasingly exploited these vulnerabilities in unsecure web applications using tools that can easily be found online, resulting in numerous high-profile hackings.

America's supercenters are dying a slow death. Huge big-box stores like Wal-Mart Supercenters and Target are being phased out in favor of "some combination of value and convenience," Goldman Sachs recently wrote. "Just about every major trend we're following right now bodes poorly for power center retail," Doug Stephens, founder of

Target has for the first time come out publicly in support of gay marriage, as a growing number of high-profile businesses take positions on the divisive issue. In revealing Tuesday that it had signed a court brief backing marriage equality in a ­pending court case, Target joins other blue-chip names such as Starbucks, Apple and Intel that have sided publicly with same-sex marriage advocates in court cases or ballot issues. "It is our belief that everyone should be treated equally under the law, and that includes rights we

Target announced today that its second quarter earnings will include a $148 million charge related to losses stemming from a data breach that occurred during last year's holiday shopping season. It also warned that its profit for that period would be softer than expected. During the fourth quarter of 2013, Target experienced a data breach in which an intruder gained unauthorized access to its network and stole payment card and other guest information. More than 110 million consumers were affected.

Brian Cornell, Target's new CEO, just stepped into a hot retail mess. CFO John Mulligan alluded to the challenges when he dropped by Bloomberg News a few weeks ago and acknowledged something industry watchers have long known: "Tarjay," inventor of cheap chic, is scared to take chances. "We got a little bit risk-averse," said Mulligan, who was interim CEO until yesterday, when Target said it had hired Cornell, a PepsiCo Inc. executive, as its first outside chief. Of all the challenges facing Cornell, firing up the culture may be the most important.

Target's search for a new chief executive came to an end Thursday when it for the first time chose an outsider to lead the Minneapolis-based retailer. PepsiCo executive Brian Cornell is Target's choice to replace Gregg Steinhafel, who was ousted in May as the company struggled under the weight of missed sales expectations, a rocky expansion into Canada and its massive data breach. 

It's not surprising that tech giants Apple and Google are among the 10 companies most often sued by patent trolls. However, when it comes to sectors, it may come as a surprise that retail graces the top spot. In the first half of 2014, 136 retailers have been involved in 264 lawsuits brought by trolls — i.e., nonpracticing entities that buy patents in the open market seeking to collect licensing revenue from infringing parties. That makes the sector the No. 1 target, above such high-tech categories as electronics, media and telecom, and computer software, according to research firm Patent Freedom.

Retailers such as Ann Taylor and J.Crew have refashioned their direct mail brochures as "style guides." Besides magazine-type content like interviews with celebrities, these print pieces include fashion tips and trend reports. Here's a quick look at two examples that recently popped up in the mail — specifically, how they deliver a rich experience to readers while at the same time keeping direct mail very relevant.